In the past, game devices referred to as “whacking games” have been constructed in such a way that something which is in the shape of a mole, for example, and which is to be struck (herein after referred to as “object”) is mechanically moved up and down or back and forth according to a prescribed system through openings in the front of a case unit. The player strikes the object with a special hammer in a contest with other players over the strikes.
To determine the winner, the game device determines whether or not the strikes are successful under a fixed system. When a strike is judged to be successful, the game device awards a point, which is displayed to the player, and the player can thus compete with other players over these points.
The following problems occur in conventional “whacking” games, however, because the object appears mechanically.
(i) The special hammer is usually furnished with a buffer material to soften the impact of the strike, but the mechanical structure from which the object emerges must be durable because of the substantial force and vigor with which the object is struck. The design of the mechanical structure is thus limited. For example, mechanical parts with high strength must be used, or the front of the object must meet certain requirements, such as the need to be formed into a spherical shape with excellent performance in dispersing stress. This limits the shape of the object, adding to the cost of manufacturing this type of game device.
(ii) Because the object pops up and drops down by means of a mechanical structure, the movement of the object is limited to a reciprocating movement either up and down or backward and forward, making it difficult to achieve more diverse object movement.
An object of the present invention is thus to provide a device, or a peripheral structure thereof, that gives input by contact based on strikes or the like to an object while affording object movement that is not limited to a mechanical structure, and that executes prescribed image processing based on this input. Another object of the present invention is to provide a game device employing this input.